Surveillance industry booming

Date: 7/5/2006
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NORCROSS — A sign on the front door of PolarisUSA Video warns visitors they are under surveillance day and night. Cameras inside the showroom can zoom in from any direction, and television screens displaying images of customers browsing are accessible to the world on the company’s Internet Web site.

On the plus side, the company can be sure that you’re not misbehaving, and you can rest assured that a pickpocket didn’t just brush past you with your wallet in his sights. At least not without being videotaped.

But then there’s that strange, unsettling feeling — somebody is watching you.

Experts say electronic surveillance has grown into a $40 billion a year industry. Since the PolarisUSA Video started up in 1983 selling radio programming, the company recognized closed circuit TV as a big moneymaker early on. The company became a surveillance equipment distributor as the demand for such products increased.

The Security Industry Association estimated that by 2001, there were more than 2 million cameras used for public safety and security in the United States, and experts say that figure may be underestimated.

“People are buying the products mostly to secure their environment,” Barnes said. “They’re not waiting for a problem; they’re thinking ahead.” Customers range from hunters looking for wildlife to boat owners who want to monitor their investment from afar. Businessmen and women can even keep an eye on a homebound parent, a baby sitter, a newborn or a latchkey kid from the comfort of their office.

The possibilities are as endless as the technology is astounding.

Nowadays, cameras can zoom in on a person from a half-mile away and capture a good, high-resolution image even at night, Barnes said. A product introduced just a few weeks ago at the International Security Convention West in Las Vegas boasted smart cameras that use facial recognition technology to sort a person out of a crowded mall or airport and track them as they move throughout the building.

“It’s even smart enough to know the difference between humans and animals,” said PolarisUSA president Raymond Manley. Although that software costs a staggering $50,000, way too much for most people who are in the market for security cameras, prices for surveillance equipment tend to become more affordable as technology improves and production becomes standardized. For example, a digital video recorder that would have cost $3,000 two years ago now retails at about $700, Barnes said.

“Things are changing so quickly, you can almost compare it to the computer market where you buy something and six months from now it is outdated,” Barnes said. Even the most basic newer cameras usually feature digital technology with a far better picture than old analog cameras. Images can be easily downloaded and burned to a CD.

More and more businesses are cashing in on the video security trend. The International Security Convention in March drew its largest crowd ever, with more than 23,000 security professionals and more than 1,000 exhibiting companies. Demand for the product has surged over the past six to seven years because of global and domestic terrorism, such as the Columbine school shooting, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Atlanta Olympics bombing and Sept. 11, said Dave Smith, vice president of marketing for Pelco, the world’s leading producer of video security systems.

“Seeing that these types of technologies can be employed reliably and effectively has made people realize both in the public sector and the private sector that there are viable technological solutions that can be used, such as video cameras, in combating these things,” Smith said.

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